DHAKA, April 5 (Reuters) - Bangladesh's highest court rejected on Tuesday an appeal by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus against his dismissal as managing director of Grameen Bank, the microlender he founded.
Associates of Yunus say his removal from his post was government retaliation after he briefly considered a political career to challenge Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Yunus, 70, lodged the appeal last month after a high court upheld a central bank order dismissing him from the post of managing director, saying he had overstayed in violation of bank law.
The official retirement age for managing directors of commercial banks in Bangladesh is 60. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told reporters the Supreme Court had upheld the high court verdict and Yunus no longer had the right to hold the office of managing director of Grameen Bank.
“He has lost the battle,” he said. Yunus was not in the court and he was not available for comment. The ruling would appear to end his hopes of retaining his post through a legal ruling.
The Supreme Court is due to consider a similar appeal, lodged by members of the bank's board, on Wednesday but that appeal looks likely to be rejected as well as it will be heard by the same panel of judges.
The action against Yunus coincides with growing criticism of microlending in developing countries, including neighbouring India, with officials accusing bankers of exploiting the poor. But analysts said the dismissal would annoy the country's friends and aid donors, including the United States.
Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, set up Grameen, which means village in Bengali, and has been the bank's managing director since 2000.
Lauded at home and abroad by politicians and financiers as the “banker to the poor”, he has been under attack by the government since late last year, after a Norwegian documentary alleged the bank was dodging taxes.
Yunus has denied any financial irregularities and the Norwegian government found no evidence of misuse of funds or corruption.
At the height of the controversy, Yunus said he had been expecting an “honourable exit” though worried over the future of the Grameen Bank and its borrowers.
Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith responded by saying that the government respected Yunus and wanted to uphold his prestige and dignity.
Many Bangladeshis have voiced sympathy for Yunus and disapproved of his treatment and departure from the institution he led for years.
But Khandaker Ibrahim Khaled, a prominent economist and former deputy governor of the central bank, said Yunus should have taken steps to appoint a successor.
“There should be room to select a competent successor to run the Grameen Bank and it was unfortunate that he did not do it,” Khaled told Reuters.
Khaled said he did not think the departure of Yunus would hurt microlending or efforts to alleviate poverty. |
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